Uchiha Shisui

"Not at all. Lord Hokage is welcome anytime."

Hiruzen Sarutobi smiled, his gaze seemingly casually sweeping over the surroundings.

"Is Uchiha Qianyu not here?"

Fugaku naturally knew who he had come for.

"That bastard is far too extreme in the way he handles things. Though I know he means well for the village and only wants to uphold fairness and justice, he still went too far this time!"

"So I punished him by making him stay home and reflect on his actions."

"What, did Lord Hokage come because of this matter too?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi sneered inwardly.

Fugaku had started with the unpleasant words, then pretended to criticize while actually praising Uchiha Qianyu. He was clearly trying to shut him up.

How could an old fox like him fail to see through such a trick?

"Sigh, I also know that man only acts for the good of the village, though his methods are indeed somewhat extreme..."

"Originally, I did not wish to come either. But several villagers took their complaints all the way to the Hokage's Office. If I did not show myself, the villagers might think I was favoring the Uchiha clan..."

"In truth, whether it is the Uchiha clan or ordinary villagers, they are all like family to me. How could I favor one over the other?"

"Wouldn't you agree, Clan Head Fugaku?"

Fugaku Uchiha replied with an accommodating smile.

"Of course. Konoha is one great family, and Lord Hokage is its pillar and head of household. Naturally, you treat everyone equally."

"I only wonder what those villagers told Lord Hokage. What demands did they make?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi took a deep draw from his pipe, then exhaled a smoke ring that slowly spread through the Police Force headquarters room.

"Actually, in the past, quite a few villagers and ninja have complained about Uchiha Qianyu, saying his law enforcement was too harsh and his methods too cruel. But I knew he was young and hot-blooded, acting to preserve the village's stability, so his methods were merely a little rash. Thus, I suppressed those complaints."

"But this time, he truly went too far..."

"That couple did not deserve to die..."

"What do you think, Clan Head Fugaku?"

The corners of his aged eyes were deeply wrinkled, and his gaze was filled with apparent conflict.

Fugaku let out a long sigh, looking as though he hated iron for not becoming steel.

"Lord Hokage is right."

"When this happened last night, I was also overcome with fury. I immediately sent people to bring him back, cursed him out, and gave him a proper lesson."

"Even if that gambling addict was beyond saving, even if he took the money meant to save his child and caused his own biological son to die, even if after his son died he still wanted to take the family's last savings to gamble, even if he was less than a beast, so what?"

"At most, you should have arrested him and locked him in a cell!"

"How could you just beat him to death?!"

"And that woman—even if her husband caused their child to die and she neither sought revenge nor reported it to the Police Force or Lord Hokage, even if she still wanted to keep living with him, even if she wanted to protect such scum after he died, even if she even wanted to assault an officer, so what?"

"Could she really have hurt you?"

"How could you truly strike to kill?!"

Fugaku looked utterly grief-stricken.

"Sigh, even if what you did was in accordance with the regulations, it was ultimately unreasonable!"

"Wouldn't you say so, Lord Hokage?"

Hiruzen Sarutobi's expression darkened slightly.

But he quickly returned to normal.

"Clan Head Fugaku, was that truly in accordance with the regulations?"

"It truly was. When the Second Hokage created the Police Force, he established a series of laws and regulations. They did indeed state that if a criminal was guilty of heinous crimes and utterly devoid of conscience, officers could act according to the circumstances and execute them on the spot. They also stated that if a Police Force member faced a threat to his life, he could naturally fight back, so..."

"Though Qianyu that bastard was indeed a little extreme, it truly cannot be said that he broke the law..."

"It can only be said that young people are indeed somewhat rash and lack tempering. That is why I punished him by making him go home and reflect on himself properly."

"Rest assured, Lord Hokage. If he still cannot correct his ways this time, I definitely will not let him off lightly!"

For a moment, the entire Police Force headquarters fell silent.

Yakumi Uchiha and the others were hearing their clan head deliver such a lengthy speech for the first time, and they could not help but stare in astonishment.

However...

Who was Hiruzen Sarutobi?

Fugaku's grand-sounding nonsense, pretending to criticize while actually praising, was something he had learned to say decades ago.

Yet once the other side said such nearly shameless words, if he still wished to keep arguing, the only path left was to completely tear off all pretenses.

Hiruzen Sarutobi absolutely did not want to do that for now.

He smiled kindly and benevolently.

"Since Clan Head Fugaku has put it that way, I am relieved. I trust that you will handle this impartially."

"Then I will not disturb you any longer."

Fugaku hurriedly said, "Take care, Lord Hokage."

As he watched Hiruzen Sarutobi's departing back, Fugaku, who appeared to have won their exchange, had a shadow settle over his face.

"Lord Hokage, that Fugaku Uchiha was clearly just making excuses!"

"Does he think he can shirk Uchiha Qianyu's guilt with just a few words?!"

Several Anbu members could not help but speak indignantly.

Hiruzen Sarutobi merely gave a disdainful snort.

"That little trick of his is something I mastered long ago."

"I simply do not wish to completely tear things apart with the Uchiha clan for now."

"Fugaku Uchiha, do you think you can shut me up like this?"

"How naive..."

"Lord Hokage means..."

"Hmph. Naturally, someone will give Uchiha Qianyu a harsh warning, and that person..."

"Will be one of the Uchiha's own clansmen."

Uchiha Shisui

"Clan Head, that was truly an extraordinary battle of words..."

Yakumi Uchiha said, both amused and deeply impressed.

Tekka and Inabi beside him silently agreed as well.

Yet Fugaku Uchiha shook his head.

"Do you think Lord Hokage truly came only for Qianyu?"

"Hm? Wasn't that the case?"

"Qianyu's matter was merely a pretext."

"I fear he came to test the attitude of the entire Uchiha clan..."

The hot-tempered Tekka Uchiha hurriedly asked, "What do you mean, Clan Head?"

Fugaku said, "It is very simple. If we acted submissively and even handed Qianyu over for Lord Hokage to deal with as he pleased, what do you think he would think?"

"If, like just now, we completely ignored Lord Hokage's intentions and defended Qianyu with all our strength, what would he think then?"

"Nothing more than one being weak and the other unyielding."

Yakumi Uchiha said, "So Clan Head chose to be unyielding..."

"It was not my choice. I had no choice at all."

Fugaku sighed deeply. "I could not truly hand Qianyu over to Hiruzen Sarutobi..."

Everyone fell silent.

Inabi Uchiha sighed. "I only hope Qianyu can understand Clan Head's painstaking intentions..."

Fugaku smiled.

"Do you really think he could not have guessed this outcome?"

"Sometimes, you have truly been fooled by the extremity and coldness of his outward appearance..."

"That man likely calculated every action Hiruzen Sarutobi and I would take long ago..."

Everyone looked at one another.

That man was indeed terrifying, but they had not expected that, in their clan head's eyes, he was terrifying to this extent.

[Chakra increased by +3. Current Chakra: 650 points.]

"Hm?"

"My Chakra increased by 3 points in one night..."

"It seems my Chakra Refining Technique has become much stronger as well."

Uchiha Qianyu nodded in satisfaction.

Generally speaking, an ordinary Jonin only had around 200 points of Chakra.

His Chakra could already be considered quite abundant.

Of course, that was only relatively speaking. He still could not compare at all with those monstrous Chakra beasts.